The International Journal of Behavioral Social and Movement Sciences (IJOBSMS) is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record. The journal considers research integrity an essential component of responsible scholarly communication and does not tolerate research or publication practices that deliberately misrepresent data, methods, findings, authorship, peer review, or other elements of the academic record.
IJOBSMS evaluates allegations of research and publication misconduct in a fair, impartial, confidential, and evidence-based manner. The journal’s procedures are guided by internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, including relevant guidance issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
This policy applies to manuscripts submitted to the journal, articles published by the journal, authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and other individuals participating in the editorial and publication process.
Definition and Scope of Research Misconduct
Research misconduct refers to practices that compromise the reliability, authenticity, transparency, or ethical integrity of scholarly research or publication. Misconduct may occur during the planning, conduct, analysis, reporting, peer review, submission, or publication of research.
Research misconduct may include, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, inappropriate data manipulation, duplicate publication, authorship misconduct, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, misrepresentation of ethical approval, and deliberate misrepresentation of research information.
Note: An honest error, legitimate difference in scholarly interpretation, methodological disagreement, or difference of academic opinion is not automatically considered research misconduct. Such matters will be assessed according to their nature, available evidence, and effect on the integrity of the scholarly record.
Types of Research Misconduct
Fabrication
Fabrication refers to the creation or invention of data, observations, participants, experiments, interviews, survey responses, research procedures, results, or other information that did not actually exist or occur. Authors must ensure that all data and findings reported in a manuscript accurately represent the research that was conducted. Fabricated information is considered a serious violation of research integrity.
Falsification
Falsification involves inappropriate alteration, manipulation, omission, suppression, or misrepresentation of research materials, methods, equipment, processes, images, datasets, statistical analyses, or results. Selective modification or exclusion of information intended to produce a misleading representation of research findings may also constitute falsification. Authors are responsible for preserving the accuracy and traceability of the research information presented in their manuscripts.
Plagiarism and Inappropriate Text Reuse
Authors must present original scholarly work and appropriately acknowledge the ideas, words, data, methods, images, or intellectual contributions of others. Presenting another person's intellectual work as one's own without appropriate attribution constitutes plagiarism. IJOBSMS may use appropriate similarity-detection and editorial assessment procedures to identify potentially problematic textual overlap. Similarity percentages are not interpreted in isolation; the nature, extent, location, source, and scholarly context of the overlap will be considered during editorial evaluation. Inappropriate reuse of substantial portions of an author's own previously published material without transparent citation or justification may also be evaluated as redundant publication or inappropriate text recycling.
Data and Image Manipulation
Research data, photographs, graphs, illustrations, figures, and other visual or analytical materials must accurately represent the underlying research. Adjustments that improve clarity may be acceptable when they do not obscure, eliminate, introduce, or misrepresent information. Manipulation intended to alter the interpretation of results, including inappropriate duplication, deletion, selective enhancement, concealment, or modification of research images or data, may constitute misconduct. The Editorial Office may request original data, images, analytical files, or other supporting materials when necessary to evaluate the integrity of a submission or published article.
Duplicate and Redundant Publication
Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal. Previously published work should not be republished as original research unless legitimate scholarly justification exists, relevant copyright and permission requirements have been satisfied, and the relationship with the previous publication is fully disclosed. Substantial duplication of previously published findings without appropriate disclosure or citation may be considered redundant or duplicate publication. Authors must inform the journal about closely related manuscripts that are published, under consideration elsewhere, or otherwise relevant to the editorial assessment of the submitted work.
Authorship Misconduct
Authorship must accurately reflect genuine scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. The journal does not permit guest authorship, honorary authorship, gift authorship, ghost authorship, unauthorized addition or removal of authors, or intentional misrepresentation of author contributions. All authors should have made appropriate intellectual contributions, approved the final manuscript, and accepted responsibility for their respective contributions to the work. Detailed requirements concerning authorship eligibility, author responsibilities, corresponding authorship, and changes in authorship are addressed separately in the journal's Authorship Criteria and Policy.
Citation Manipulation
References must be selected on the basis of their academic relevance and contribution to the manuscript. IJOBSMS does not permit practices intended primarily to manipulate citation metrics. These may include unnecessary self-citation, excessive citation of a particular journal or author without scholarly justification, coercive citation requests, coordinated citation arrangements, citation cartels, or the deliberate inclusion of irrelevant references. Editors and reviewers must not require authors to add citations for the primary purpose of increasing personal, institutional, or journal citation indicators.
Ethical Approval & Consent Misrepresentation
Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, animals, or other activities requiring formal ethical oversight must comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary requirements. Authors must accurately report ethics approval, informed consent, institutional authorization, trial registration, permissions, or other required approvals where applicable. Fabricating, altering, misrepresenting, or falsely claiming ethical approval, participant consent, institutional permission, or study registration may be treated as serious research misconduct.
Peer-Review Manipulation
The integrity and independence of peer review must be protected throughout the editorial process. Any attempt to manipulate or compromise peer review is prohibited. Such conduct may include:
Providing fabricated reviewer identities
Submitting false or misleading reviewer contact info
Impersonating another researcher
Creating fraudulent reviewer accounts
Attempting to obtain confidential reviewer info
Influencing reviewers through inappropriate communication
Submitting reviews through unauthorized individuals
Manipulating reviewer recommendations
Interfering with independent editorial decision-making
Where peer-review manipulation is suspected, the journal may suspend editorial processing while the matter is investigated.
Misrepresentation of Research Information
Authors are responsible for ensuring that information submitted to IJOBSMS is accurate and authentic. Deliberate misrepresentation may include false or misleading information concerning:
Author identity
Academic qualifications
Institutional affiliation
Research location
Participant recruitment
Sample characteristics
Research methodology
Funding
Data sources
Ethical approval
Study registration
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of interest
Author contributions
Other material information
The journal may request verification or supporting documentation when legitimate concerns arise.
Reporting Suspected Misconduct
Authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other interested parties may report suspected research or publication misconduct to the Editorial Office of IJOBSMS. A complaint or allegation should contain:
The title or identifying details of the manuscript or published article;
A clear description of the alleged concern;
Relevant documentary evidence or supporting information; and
Contact details of the person submitting the concern, where appropriate.
Anonymous concerns may be considered when sufficient specific and credible evidence is provided. Allegations will be evaluated on the basis of available evidence.
Preliminary Assessment
When an allegation is received, the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated editor will conduct an initial assessment to determine:
Whether the matter falls within the journal's editorial responsibility;
Whether the allegation concerns research or publication integrity;
Whether sufficient evidence is available to proceed;
Whether additional information is required;
Whether the process should be temporarily suspended; and
Whether the matter should be referred to another appropriate authority.
The existence of an allegation does not establish misconduct. Editors with conflicts of interest will not participate in the investigation.
Investigation Procedure
When a concern requires formal evaluation, the journal may initiate an investigation appropriate to the nature and seriousness of the allegation. The investigation may include examination of submitted and published manuscript versions, editorial correspondence, peer-review records, similarity reports, original datasets, statistical analyses, laboratory records, original image files, ethics approval documents, informed consent docs, study registrations, authorship declarations, funding, and conflict-of-interest declarations.
The corresponding author and other authors may be informed of the concern and invited to provide a written explanation and supporting evidence. The journal may seek independent expert advice when necessary.
Where the matter concerns conduct that can only be formally investigated by an employer, university, research institution, ethics committee, or regulatory authority, IJOBSMS may refer the concern to the appropriate organization.
Authors' Opportunity to Respond
Individuals whose work or conduct is under investigation will ordinarily be provided with a reasonable opportunity to respond to material concerns and submit supporting information.
The journal will consider relevant explanations and evidence before reaching an editorial decision. Failure to respond to legitimate editorial inquiries may be considered when determining the appropriate editorial action; however, non-response alone will not automatically be treated as conclusive evidence of misconduct.
Misconduct Identified Before Publication
When substantial concerns arise while a manuscript is under review, IJOBSMS may:
Temporarily suspend peer review or editorial processing;
Request clarification or additional documentation;
Request original research data or evidence;
Conduct additional editorial or similarity assessment;
Obtain independent expert advice;
Request correction of inaccurate information;
Reject the manuscript when serious integrity concerns are substantiated; or
Refer the matter to an appropriate institution or authority where necessary.
Misconduct Identified After Publication
Concerns raised post-publication may lead IJOBSMS to:
Publish a correction;
Issue an editorial notice or expression of concern;
Retract the article;
Update relevant article metadata;
Notify affected readers or indexing services where appropriate;
Communicate with the author's institution; or
Take other proportionate action necessary to preserve scholarly record integrity.
Corrections and Retractions
IJOBSMS distinguishes between honest errors and misconduct.
Where an error does not invalidate the central findings of an article, an appropriate correction may be issued.
Retraction may be considered when there is reliable evidence that the findings are seriously unreliable as a result of misconduct or major error, when substantial plagiarism or redundant publication is established, when unethical research materially affects the publication, or when other serious integrity concerns undermine confidence in the scholarly record.
Detailed procedures are addressed in the journal's Corrections Policy and Retraction Policy.
Institutional Cooperation
Research institutions have an important role in formally investigating researcher conduct. IJOBSMS communicates with universities, ethics committees, and regulatory bodies regarding credible allegations when appropriate, while retaining final editorial responsibility.
Confidentiality
Allegations of misconduct are handled with appropriate confidentiality and disclosed only to individuals or organizations whose involvement is necessary for investigation, expert assessment, or legal compliance.
Protection of Good-Faith Complainants
Individuals reporting concerns in good faith will not be disadvantaged. However, allegations that are knowingly false, malicious, or intended to damage reputation may be treated as inappropriate conduct.
Editorial Independence & Impartiality
Decisions are based strictly on evidence and publication ethics principles, uninfluenced by an author's nationality, rank, or commercial considerations. Conflict-of-interest editors are excluded from decision-making.
Appeals
Affected parties may request reconsideration if significant evidence was overlooked, new evidence is available, or procedural errors occurred. Reconsideration is reviewed by an independent editor where practicable.
Record Keeping
IJOBSMS retains appropriate records relating to misconduct allegations, investigations, and decisions to support editorial accountability and publication integrity.
Responsibilities of Authors, Reviewers, and Editors
All participants in the publication process share responsibility for protecting research integrity.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethical conduct, and transparency of their research. Reviewers are expected to report significant ethical concerns during peer review.
Editors are responsible for evaluating concerns impartially, and publisher management supports editorial independence during investigations.
Policy on Cooperation With Publication-Ethics Guidance
IJOBSMS is committed to responsible scholarly publishing and considers relevant internationally recognized publication-ethics principles and COPE guidance when assessing suspected research or publication misconduct. The journal ensures that actions taken are fair, evidence-based, proportionate, and transparent.
Policy Review and Updates: This Research Misconduct Policy may be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect developments in publication ethics, research-integrity standards, and editorial practice. Material amendments will be reflected on the journal website.